Hindus of Haroonabad told to vacate houses

Hindu community of Haroonabad area has been asked to vacate their houses by local administration. This is allegedly being done due to pressure from owners of a housing scheme. They want to build front gate of housing scheme by demolishing the houses of Hindus, who have been living there for last three decades. 

Assistant Commissioner of District Haroonabad Anjum Zehra issued notices to dozens of Hindu families living in Haroonabad, a tehsil of Bahawalnagar district, to vacate their homes by June 28. 

Hindu families had been living in the area for the last 30 years after the Bahawalnagar commissioner allowed them to construct homes at the government’s land called ‘Jurnaili Murabba’ in 1987.

In 1987, the then Bahawalnagar’s commissioner allowed them in writing to settle on the land on an application moved by 69 Hindu families who were employed by local government on contract basis.

The rest of the paper work for allotment of five marlas to each Hindu family was completed in the tenure of Pakistan People’s Party in 1995 when a ‘misl’ (revenue record of land and property) was made in favour of the Hindu families. So members of Hindu community built their houses after allotment of land located in Chak number 72-4/R.

Haroonabad Town is a Tehsil Headquarter and an important Mandi Town of Bahawalnagar District. Before the colonization the site of the present Haroonabad Town was known as Toba Badru Wala. The word "Toba" in the local language means pond. In the year 1927, the branch railway line linking Forrtabbas Town with Bahawalnagar city was constructed. The Railway Station at Haroonabad Town was built in the same year and was called "Badru Wala Station"

Establishment of irrigation system/canal system under the Satluj valley project in 1934, added to the agricultural production of the hinterland and provided a significant economic base to this small settlement. The construction of 3R and 4R Canals in the region brought the most of the area under irrigation system and the town began to flourish as a Mandi Town rapidly due to increasing economic and commercial activities. The town was renamed as Haroonabad Town after the name of Prince Haroon-ur-Rashid, the son of Nawab of Bahawalpur Sir Sadiq Muhammad Khan Khamis.